The Dodgers' initial offer to the slugger contains a club option for a third year that would make the total deal match that figure, the Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday.

Citing a source close to the negotiations, the newspaper reported that Ramirez would earn $15 million next season, $22.5 million in 2010 and the same in 2011 if the team exercised its option. The final year can be bought out for $7.5 million.

The offer stands until Thursday when the Dodgers lose exclusive rights to negotiate with the free agent.

A source told the Times, however, that talks could continue and that the Dodgers would consider guaranteeing the third year of the deal.

Ramirez's agent, Scott Boras, has already said that the length of the deal is not acceptable, according to the newspaper.

I'm not trying to suggest that three years and $60M isn't a rich deal. That's indeed a whole lot of money. But the point of this remains that it is clearly fewer years and dollars than Manny and his agent Scott Boras expect. And it's not like they weren't clear about what terms they want ("Gas is up and so am I," quipped Ramirez). So to see this as anything but an obviously inadequate proposal is nuts.

Jon, I'm not saying we should give in to everything that Boras wants either. But it is odd to me that we're perfectly willing to throw long term deals to overpay for lesser rewards and greater risks.

And the fact that there is no plan B is a real concern. Boras countered our "offer" with talk that Manny could be a Giant (as close to a disaster scenario as we could get). So why haven't we countered this with talks of compelling counter-move?

If we've learned anything from the Cuban Missile Crisis, it's that deterrence policy is only effective if the threat is credible. If you don't have a credible threat, you're going to get walked on and over.

Yea, I think the chances of Boras agreeing to a deal before talking to other teams would be somewhere between 0 and .01%

This point cannot be overemphasized. Boras will not allow any of his clients to sign a deal without testing the waters thoroughly. There is almost no point in negotiating with Boras now, and in fact sizeable disadvantages to doing so. The Dodgers have set the floor for a Manny deal; they cannot set the ceiling, not until after November 15, anyway.